AMD ATI Radeon X1300 Pro 256 MB PCI-E Card

The X1300 can accelerate digital imaging tasks, enhance 3D graphics in PC games, output a billion more colors than the competition1, and deliver top performance for high definition video. The X1300 has received ATI’s stamp of approval for Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Vista¿ operating system3, enabling the machine to summon some serious graphical glitz without affecting system performance.Amazon.com Product Description Step up to serious 3-D performance and image quality with ATI’s Radeon X1300 Pro. For greatly enhanced visuals, the Radeon X1300 combines a radically new and efficient 3-D architecture with ATI’s Avivo video and display technology. The X1300 delivers superior visual performance for all types of PC entertainment and productivity. Whether you’re upgrading your present PC graphics or buying a new PC, the Radeon X1300 will easily handle today’s graphics-intensive games, digital entertainment, and productivity software.

The X1300 makes a great upgrade if you’re looking for more muscle for multimedia and graphics applications. View larger.

Performance, by the Numbers Under the hood you’ll find 105 million transistors on a 90nm fabrication process; four pixel shader processors; two vertex shader processors; 256 MB of 128-bit, 4-channel GDDR3 memory; and a native PCI Express x16 bus interface.

The Radeon X1300 also supports impressive shader performance with Shader Model 3.0–now you can see incredible details never before visible. The X1300 also allows you to experience simultaneous high dynamic range rendering and advanced adaptive anti-aliasing for incredible enhancements to lighting contour and color details. Take the edge off of jagged wires and strands of hair, while experiencing photorealistic lighting.

Lose the jaggies! Hardware anti-aliasing makes your games more realistic.

CrossFire: Twice the Fun With the purchase of a X1300 CrossFire Edition card, your X1300 can be upgraded to take advantage of ATI’s CrossFire technology, giving you twice the power to throw at the most demanding games. Based on the same technology used with ATI-based commercial flight simulators, CrossFire soars into a new dimension of graphics capability with multiple graphics processing units (GPUs) working together in your PC. With two X1300 cards installed in your PCI Express-based PC, you can choose from three operating modes. First, Alternate Frame Rendering mode balances GPU tasks between the two cards for optimum performance. There’s also a multiple load-sharing Scissor mode for compatibility with all games, as well as a Supertiling mode that divides the screen into multiple sectors that are selectively targeted by the two GPUs, offering the best load balancing between them. Note that to take advantage of CrossFire your computer must have a motherboard that is CrossFire-ready. The Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire Edition and Intel i955X based dual-slot motherboards are supported platforms.

Does what it’s supposed to do The X1300 has been a reliable low-end standby for entry-level gaming systems for several years. There’s no reason to avoid this card because of Vista issues (or other Windows issues). ATI Radeon cards have fewer issues than nVIDIA cards, overall, with drivers and compatibility, and the X300/1300 line has been and continues to be well-supported even with finicky, demanding games like Sims 2. I have read about many issues with nVIDIA cards with Sims 2, even when used with nVIDIA motherboards (for example).Do your research before you buy any video card, but if you’re planning to play a game with your card, research that game’s forums – fansites or official – to get the real scoop on drivers and compatibility. Don’t rely on an Amazon review that has nothing to do with the card or software and everything to do with Microsoft’s less than stellar implementation of the Vista OS.

Best Buy for the $$$ I got this card as part of my Dell system. Unfortunately, it isn’t Blu-Ray compatible, but for its price, what is? I’m not into gaming, but I did have a copy of Serious Sam II that I installed on my Vista. The card was pushed beyond what I thought were its limits in resolution, and it produced a beautiful, flicker free performance. To go with Blu-Ray, I had to jump to a new card (ATI 3870 512) and I had to push it beyond what I thought were its limitations to see an improvement, and even that was modest. For the price, you can’t beat this for overall Photoshop and gaming use. I remember when $100 would only buy a video card capable of giving you standard color graphics and resolution. We’ve come a long way since then, and ATI has the market and the reputation for stability that makes their products super. A PC Maximum article earlier this year went so far as to suggest nVidia was obsolete. Don’t know that I’d go that far, but I’d stay with ATI for the time being.